


Because I'm Punk

by Sashataakheru



Series: Genderfluid James Acaster [5]
Category: Taskmaster (UK TV) RPF
Genre: Androgyny, Anonymity, Boots - Freeform, Clothing, Collars, Community: seasonofkink, Costumes, Fur, Gen, Gender Play, Gender Weirdness, Leather, Magical Clothing, Masks, Mystery, Seduction, Spikes, dressing for your gender, gender mess, genderfluid!James Acaster - Freeform, masque balls, nonbinary clothing, royal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:06:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25262824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashataakheru/pseuds/Sashataakheru
Summary: The Yule Games are approaching, and so is the Masque Ball that opens the games. James always tries his best to master the perfect genderqueer look, and never quite manages it. That is, until Liza comes along, giving him an outfit that's absolutely perfect.Part One Of Two.
Series: Genderfluid James Acaster [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1327250
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Season of Kink





	Because I'm Punk

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt, 'gender play', for Season of Kink round 7. [My card and fills are here.](https://3evilmuses.dreamwidth.org/85332.html)

James was glad it was a masque ball so he wouldn't have to worry so much about anyone recognising him under his costume. It had become the tradition for the opening of the Yule Games, and while he did pretty much know everyone here who would recognise him, that wasn't the point. Somehow, he just felt freer to be himself than he'd felt, well. Before there was a Welsh Kingdom and Greg became royalty and dragons started flying all over the place for a start.

He looked at his outfit in the mirror with all its ambiguity. Joe Lycett would accuse him of cross-dressing, but it was nothing like that at all. Cross-dressing implied he was dressing in the opposite gender to what he was, but that wasn't strictly true. He didn't really have any gender at all, or if he did, it was sort of a tangled mess of them all that he'd never really been able to sort out to any real degree. 

It was the gown, wasn't it? Was it too much? To be fair, it had a bustle skirt, with a lovely corset top and an emimently stupid wig and mask, but that was half the point of it, right? No. It definitely wasn't right. Too much. He wasn't into this anymore, he decided, as he undressed and threw the dress onto the bed before returning to his wardrobe to see what else he could wear.

"None of this feels right. I don't know what I want to be tonight. Everything and nothing. I can't pull that off, can I?" James muttered as he looked through his clothes. "Half the fun of the masque is the chance to seduce people I'd never be able to do as my real self. To show who I really am in a way I really just can't do the rest of the time. How the fuck do you dress for that?" 

A knock on his door interrupted him and he wandered over to see who was bothering him. 

"I'm not dressed so unless this is important, please kindly fuck off!" James called.

"It's only me, Liza. Got something I thought might look really good on you, if you'll let me in," Liza replied.

James made a face, not expecting Liza to be there at all. They weren't particularly close, after all. "What kind of thing exactly?" 

"On, trust me, you'll love it," Liza said. "I can just leave it out here if you'd rather I didn't see you half undressed, of course." 

"Oh, no, no, it's okay, it's just you, it's okay," James said, opening the door to her. "Please, come in, Liza."

She was dressed up like a peacock, of course, and James assumed her mask would be covered in peacock feathers. She always did go over the top for the masques, after all. The outfit she had in her hands wasn't immediately apparent, but it wasn't just clothes. James could see the mask, and some boots, and possibly a belt. 

"Thank you, James. I'm glad you're not properly dressed too. It'll make things easier," Liza said, shutting the door behind her.

"Okay, so what have you got for me? Why'd you think of me for this one?" James said.

She threw the outfit onto his bed. "Just put it on and tell me if it's what you're looking for." 

"Alright, alright, I'll try it on," James said. "You don't have to watch that, though, do you?" 

Liza laughed. "No, of course not. I'll be outside, darling."

"Okay, thanks Liza," James said, watching her go.

James lay out the clothes once he was alone, trying to make sense of it. It was definitely the gayest thing he'd ever seen, but also surprisingly regal. The top had some mesh in the sleeves, but it had such a weirdly feminine cut, and the sleeves ended with very dramatic points that felt past his hands. The body was made of black velvet with diamontés, there was a matching gold leather collar, and a white fur wrap for his shoulders. The trousers were tight leather, with a boot cut, accompanied by heeled boots that were the same colour as the wrap and adorned with gold and buckles and spikes. There was a long, thin gold belt that James assumed was meant to wrap around his waist more than once. As for the mask, well, it was leather, black, covering his eyes, nose, and half of one side of his face. It was plain, save for some very nice gold markings, large pointed ears, and a set of what looked like demon horns. There was also some sort of ornate walking stick. It was so nothing like what he would ever have picked, but something about it just screamed weird enough to warrant trying on. So he did.

Each piece of the outfit looked strange on its own until it was all put together. Then the full effect sort of blew him away. Somehow, he looked like some weird androgynous shadow being, an Extremely Gay shadow being. The clothes made his body look strangely curvy, as did the mask, and the heels, well. He wasn't a skinny lanky weird boy anymore, he was a tall, weirdly feminine creature. He could feel it in his body, and in his mannerisms, and in his voice. Whatever he was, he had no idea what his gender was, and he was perfectly fine with that.

"Liza! I'm done!" James called, hearing the weird tone in his voice now. Not an accent, not something he was putting on, it was just his voice now, softened, but sharpened, with a slightly different pitch.

Liza returned and she seemed delighted. "Oh, lovely! I knew you'd look great in that outfit. How does it feel? Do you like it?" 

"I do, yeah, I love it!" James said. "Where'd you find it?"

"Just saw it somewhere and it reminded me of you. Now you be careful with that one. It's got a power to it, hasn't it? Trickster power. I won't be held responsible for anything that goes wrong with that, alright?" Liza said.

"Yeah, that's fair. But I don't want to trick anyone, like not like that. I just want everyone to not know what I am, or who I am. That's the point of a masque ball. I want to be anonymous, and mysterious. Just once I want to pick up someone and not have them know who I am beforehand. I want to be confusing!" James said.

"Well, it's definitely done that. I think it knew that, and that's what it's done. Your body keeps shifting, it's never one thing or another anymore. Oh, and if I were you, I'd add some femme make-up, just to fuck with everyone even more," Liza said.

"Oh, that's a good idea! I hadn't even thought of make-up. I take it you have a look in mind, then?" James said.

"Naturally. If you're done, boy, follow me and I'll fix your face up. You'll confuse the fuck out of everyone by the time I'm done with you," Liza said.

"Lead on, ma'am," James said. "I'm ready to fuck with everyone's heads."


End file.
